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Friday, April 29, 2016

Hey guys! It's come to my attention that there was a giant flub with
some of the B&N pre-order of Second Verse. If you ordered this and
did not receive the right files, please send me an email to
emilysnowreadermail@gmail.com so I can ensure you get the correct file ASAP. I've already been in touch with the vendor I used to put it up for pre-order so I'll be working closely with them to make sure EVERYONE gets their update.

I am
so, so, so very sorry.

I'm also working on getting the rest of the sites running (and make sure they're correct). Thank y'all and again I am so incredibly sorry.

Monday, February 29, 2016

I’m a bundle of nerves as I walk into the
restaurant my mother picked for our meeting, but I do my best to hide my
anxiety as I approach the table. My family is already here and the closer I get
to the table, I’m shocked when I realize that they’re smiling. Granted, those
smiles seem slightly forced, but it’s still enough to make me pause a few steps
from the empty seat I was headed for. When my mom spots me, she lifts her hand
and motions me to sit down.

“Come on, Sienna. Might as well get this over
with.”

Hesitantly, I take the empty seat
beside Gram, which is opposite Mom’s chair. My grandmother covers my fingers
with hers, and when I shoot her a questioning look, she nods reassuringly.

“It’s fine, sweetheart,” she says
softly.

“I didn’t think you’d show up,”
Mom says, drawing my attention back to her. She looks good, with her strawberry
blond hair in a high ponytail and an oversized sweater that I’m sure belongs to
me. She drums her fingernails on the table and then shrugs. “I’m glad you did
come, though.”

“So … what’s going on?” I ask. I glance
around the table and when nobody rushes to comment, I focus my attention on my
brother. “Seth?”

“Rebecca’s leaving Nashville
until May and wanted us all to get together for lunch before she left,” he says.

I twist my lips to the side as I
turn to my mother. For a moment, I struggle with what to say since the last few
times I’ve seen her have been nothing but pure drama, but then I nod slowly.
“Thanks for inviting me to your … ‘farewell until May lunch.”

Mom smirks. “Like I said, I’m
surprised you came since your asshole’s lawyers have let me know just how
unwelcome I am in both your lives.”

I groan but hold back any
argument until after our waitress stops by our table to bring me a glass of
water. As soon as she’s gone, though, I release a deep breath. “Please, don’t
start. Especially if this is supposed to be the last time we see each other for
several months. Plus, you know exactly why you heard from his lawyers.” There’s
a part of me that’s relieved that Lucas followed through on letting his lawyers
handle my mother’s demands instead of throwing money her way just to keep the
stress out of our lives.

Mom’s lips twitch into a frown. “I
just wanted a loan, Sienna. And obviously he’s in a good financial place where
he could’ve made that happen.”

I take a sip of my water and
swallow hard. “You threatened him, Mom. And you threatened me. You never even
said why you needed the money.”

She’s silent for a long pause and
then she rolls her eyes. “Guess I just wanted to start over.”

“You picked a pretty shitty way
to ask for help doing it,” Seth mutters from his spot next to her, earning a
glare from both Gram and my mother.

“It doesn’t matter now because I’ve
got a job. And I won’t ever ask that prick you’re dating for another dime.”

“Oh?” This is definitely news. I
flip open the menu, pretending to be interested in the assortment of
handcrafted cheeseburgers as I ask, “Where did you get a job?”

“In Indiana, nosy ass. And … I’ve
met someone.” And now, the reason for this meeting starts to make a little more
sense. When I give my mother a pointed look, she narrows her green eyes at me.
“Look, I’m not looking to introduce the two of you.” She looks back and forth
between Seth and me. “And I really don’t give a damn what you might think of
him, but I did want to let all three of you know where I’m going.”

“We want you to be happy,” Gram
says, and from the look on her face, I can tell she’s known about Mom’s new job
and boyfriend for a while. “And I know Seth and Sienna appreciate you caring
enough to let us know where you’ll be.”

When Mom leans over to give my
grandmother a kiss on the cheek, it’s obvious this meeting isn’t for Seth and
me, but for Gram, but I’ll take it. I’ll also cautiously take mom’s promise to
not ask Lucas for a loan again. “Is he nice?” I look up from the menu to meet
Mom’s smirk. “The guy you met, I mean?”

“Meaning is he a drug dealer or
on his death bed or any other type of man you probably think I’m drawn to?”

I sigh. “Dammit, Mom—”

“He’s very nice. Much nicer than
Lucas-Fucking-Wolfe.” Before I can
stop her, she grabs my keys from the table and smoothes her fingers over the
key fob belonging to my new car. “A gift before he decides to ditch you?”

“Rebecca,” my grandmother warns
as I shake my head.

“No. A Valentine’s gift. He
wanted me to have a safe vehicle for when the baby arrives.” I hadn’t planned
on announcing my pregnancy, but damn if my mother didn’t bring out my defensive
side.

For a long, drawn out moment,
everyone at the table sits in silence, and then Gram leans over to wrap me in a
tight hug as my brother offers me a stunned congratulatory grin.

I stare my mother down until she
finally lifts her shoulders and her drink. “Nice going away present, Sienna.
Making me a goddamn grandma.” But she smiles and then, I smile.
“Congratulations.”

*

“We should get married soon,”
Lucas says in a low voice a few nights later as I lay curled against him in our
bed. His rough fingers stroke the smooth, bare skin of my hip. “What do you
think?”

When he came home earlier
tonight, we briefly talked about the wedding after I told him all about the
lunch date I had with my family three days before. He hadn’t seemed surprised
that my mother was doing a 120—I couldn’t exactly call her change of heart a
180, not yet at least—and he’d simply said that everything was slowly working
out for the best.

“Don’t tell me you fell asleep
before round two,” he says, his lips tickling my ear, and I shiver. “Didn’t
think so. So what do you think about what I just said?”

“Trying to make an honest woman
out of me?” I look over my shoulder to look into his eyes, noticing the
amusement crinkling the corners. I can’t resist grinning myself. “Didn’t
realize you were so old fashioned, Mr. Wolfe.”

He snorts. “I’m not old
fashioned. My reasons for wanting to marry you soon are entirely selfish.”

“Selfish?”

He kisses my shoulder blade. “I
want you to have my last name, Red.” I feel his hand move over my hip until it
rests on my outer thigh. “When I give interviews or talk about you, I want to
be able to call you my wife because then we’re complete. See, I’m fucking
selfish.”

“At the risk of sounding like
Sinjin—you sound totally pussy-whipped,” I tease and then gasp when his fingers
splay between my thighs. “What do you think you’re doing?” I ask in a hoarse
voice.

His thumb strokes my sex before I
feel the lips on my shoulder move into a smile. “Doing? Feels like it’s already
done.”

“Don’t be cocky,” I groan. “Okay
… how soon is soon?”

“Next week. Tomorrow. Tonight,”
he says and I laugh as he rolls on top of me and pins my wrists to the bed.
“What’s so funny, Sienna?”

“Your sister will kill us if we
get married next week and she can’t play party planner. You know that, right?”

“She’ll just have to schedule her
own crazy ass wedding.” His hazel eyes stare down at me appreciatively and
emotion tugs at my chest. “But what would you
rather do?”

I look up at him, into the eyes
of the man I’m crazy about, and I release a heavy breath. “There’s nothing I
want more than to be your wife. The sooner, the better. But not tonight so we
can at least give our families a little notice.”

“I love you, Sienna Jensen. So
goddamn much.”

“I love you too, Lucas.”

His grin softens as he lowers his
mouth to mine, and I arch my body against his. When he starts to pull away, I
draw him back against me, not caring that I’m dizzy and breathless and on fire.
Because in this moment, I’m completed.